It's no small secret that we LOVE Diaya cheese in this house. Their mozzarella is fabulous on pizzas and other italian dishes, the chedddar makes the absolute best vegan macaroni and cheese, and their pepperjack in bean and 'cheese' taquitos is to die for.
So imagine my so-excited-I-almost-wet-myself happy dance I did in Central Market when I came across Daiya's new product, Cheese Wedges.
Oh. My. Gosh.
I bought a cheddar wedge and a (are you ready for it?) Havarti jalepeno and garlic wedge. What now? YEAH, you read that right!! They also make a jack style wedge but I didn't buy it. I haven't even tried the cheddar one yet but I'm sure it will be fantastic. I'm here to talk about this jalepeno garlic soft cheese.
Right out of the fridge, it was soft but not like cream cheese or anything. In fact I tried to scrape some up with a Glutino pretzel (The absolute best wheat free vegan pretzels) and my pretzel broke. However, I put a scoop in a microwave safe dish and heated it for about 15 seconds. It was semi-solid looking but after a good stir the whole thing became smooth and creamy and it was so good it made me weak in the knees! It tasted like spicy spinach and artichoke dip, and I bet it I added some cooked spinach and artichokes and then broiled it quickly with some bread crumbs on top, this would be the most fabulous allergen free spinach/artichoke dip in the entire world. Seriously. Even my dad, who is not feeling the allergen free foods, thought this was amazing. You should definitely give these wedges a try!
We ate the whole package over the weekend, but next time I go to Central Market I will buy another and I will make this with spinach and artichoke and see if it's as good as I think it's going to be!! :D
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Monday, July 2, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Gluten/Wheat Free Cajun Fried Fish and Hush Puppies
First of all, I got a fryer today! Wahoo, I am so thrilled! I know it's not the healthiest thing in the world, but now we can stop buying pre made sweet potato fries and really expensive breaded fish that even after proper baking never really have that crispy coating. I hate hate hate frying on my stove top as it is such a mess, plus never comes out right (my techinique is terrible, I am way too impatient). Now the Orange, Sweet and Sour, and General Tso's 'chicken' recipes will be so much better!
And did I mention it was only $40!!! What the heck, all this time I thought fryers were at least $100.
Anyway, so this is more of a review of Zatarain's Crispy Southern Fish Fri and Zatarain's Seasoned Fish Fri, the latter of which was used to make hush puppies, since we followed the recipes on the box, making substitutions for eggs and milk.
Here's my review: IT WAS AWESOME! We used Tilapia fillets and cut them into inch wide 'fingers', then breaded them with the Crispy Southern breading and fried them. They were great, and I'm sure fried on the stove top they would have been just as good. I'd love to try it with catfish but we bought a huge bag of tilapia fillets a while ago and I want to use them up first.
We also followed the hush puppy recipe on the side of the Seasoned Fri breading mix, which called for corn meal, milk (we used almond), 1 egg (we used EnerG egg replacer), 2 Tbs shortening (we used soy and dairy free olive oil margarine) and finely chopped shallots. They were a bit on the spicy side but not so much that anyone here complained.
All in all, I probably would save this type of meal for once in a blue moon because it just seems wrong to each two fried things on one plate, but they were really really good and I had no idea they were wheat and rice free and could be made so well with substitutions.
And did I mention it was only $40!!! What the heck, all this time I thought fryers were at least $100.
Anyway, so this is more of a review of Zatarain's Crispy Southern Fish Fri and Zatarain's Seasoned Fish Fri, the latter of which was used to make hush puppies, since we followed the recipes on the box, making substitutions for eggs and milk.
We also followed the hush puppy recipe on the side of the Seasoned Fri breading mix, which called for corn meal, milk (we used almond), 1 egg (we used EnerG egg replacer), 2 Tbs shortening (we used soy and dairy free olive oil margarine) and finely chopped shallots. They were a bit on the spicy side but not so much that anyone here complained.
All in all, I probably would save this type of meal for once in a blue moon because it just seems wrong to each two fried things on one plate, but they were really really good and I had no idea they were wheat and rice free and could be made so well with substitutions.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Birthday cake
I made a gluten/dairy/egg free birthday cake for Ben so that everyone could enjoy it together. It was a learning experience. I bought Bob's Red Mill chocolate cake mix, and Cherrybrook Kitchens ready made frosting in vanilla.
Cherrybrook Kitchen makes some cool stuff, like gluten free chocolate chip pancake mix and brownie mix, etc. They also sell frosting mix in a box and then this ready made frosting. Well... let me just tell you that the frosting was awful. I don't like to complain about "free" foods because obviously they aren't going to compare to the real thing they are trying to replace, but this was just absolutely terrible. The flavor wasn't bad, though it didn't taste frosting-y. But it was like rubber cement, semi-translucent and runny and sticky and unspreadable. It would have made a great topping for cinnamon rolls, but on top of a cake was just sad. I ended up just pouring a heavy layer on top and letting it melt down the sides, otherwise I would have ripped up the cake. Serving it involved long sugary sticky strings of 'frosting' going from the platter to the plates.
What really gets me is that I have found 'regular' frosting by Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines or whoever that doesn't have our allergens in it and is yummy and much cheaper, but I thought this would be better as the ingredients are more natural, and ended up totally wasting our money. *Sigh*, you live and learn I guess!
The cake itself was yummy, and I spread raspberry puree in between the layers and it was really good and of course Ben and Jack both liked it despite the funky frosting.
Cherrybrook Kitchen makes some cool stuff, like gluten free chocolate chip pancake mix and brownie mix, etc. They also sell frosting mix in a box and then this ready made frosting. Well... let me just tell you that the frosting was awful. I don't like to complain about "free" foods because obviously they aren't going to compare to the real thing they are trying to replace, but this was just absolutely terrible. The flavor wasn't bad, though it didn't taste frosting-y. But it was like rubber cement, semi-translucent and runny and sticky and unspreadable. It would have made a great topping for cinnamon rolls, but on top of a cake was just sad. I ended up just pouring a heavy layer on top and letting it melt down the sides, otherwise I would have ripped up the cake. Serving it involved long sugary sticky strings of 'frosting' going from the platter to the plates.
What really gets me is that I have found 'regular' frosting by Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines or whoever that doesn't have our allergens in it and is yummy and much cheaper, but I thought this would be better as the ingredients are more natural, and ended up totally wasting our money. *Sigh*, you live and learn I guess!
The cake itself was yummy, and I spread raspberry puree in between the layers and it was really good and of course Ben and Jack both liked it despite the funky frosting.
Happy 1st birthday to Benny!!
No hard feelings, Cherrybrook Kitchen, not everything you make can be a winner. :)
Friday, December 30, 2011
The Frozen Food isle never looked so good!
Well now that the hectic-ness of Christmas is over, it's time to start posting again! I've found some really great products this last week and I'm excited about them.
Also, IT'S BEN'S 1ST BIRTHDAY!! Happy Birthday, Sweet Ben!!
So we shop at this great grocery store called Sprouts Farmers Market. They are in California, Texas, Arizona and Colorado. Ours is about 20 miles from us, but it's SO worth the drive. It's a smaller grocery store, but they sell an amazing number of specialty products. There is a HUGE store nearby called Central Market that carries all sorts of specialty and exotic products, but I've seen Sprouts have way more variety and better choices many times over, plus they are way cheaper and the store isn't a stupid maze. Sorry Central Market, but I can't stand ya.
Anyway, one of the many excellent things about Sprouts is that they label gluten free products with a symbol right on the price tags on the shelf! So instead of standing in front of a whole cookie isle and trying to scan all the different box fronts for the words "Gluten Free!", I can just look at the tags for the symbol! Then if the product is also dairy free, that will be listed on the tags as well. And OMG, they have SO much stuff!
I don't like to buy a lot of convinience foods, but lunch time is very uninspirational for me, and I never feel like cooking a whole meal just for the boys and myself, especially since 50-60% of the time, Jack will hardly eat any of it. So yesterday at Sprouts I found a product line in the freezer section called Ian's. They have kid friendly foods, the types of stuff 'regular' kids get to eat all the time, but allergy FREE! I am talking about fish sticks, chicken strips, chicken nuggets, mac and (no) cheese sauce, french toast sticks, pizzas, turkey corn dog bites, even a whole meal of chicken nuggets, alphatots (fries shaped like letters), corn, and a mini chocolate cake! All wheat/egg/milk/mammal meat free, all @*&%$*@& awesome. And not only all of that, but their healthier items have a "SuperFit Kid" point value, and kids can redeem the points for prizes! Great incentive to get kids to eat healthy!
Another thing is Potato Flyers. They are by the same people who make Pirate Booty, these are like potato chips, but it's puffed, baked chips rather than slices. So they are all a uniform size and light and fluffy, plus an entire family size bag only has 200 more calories than the lunch box size bags of regular potato chips. And the flavor of the original is deeeeelicious!!!
Also, IT'S BEN'S 1ST BIRTHDAY!! Happy Birthday, Sweet Ben!!
So we shop at this great grocery store called Sprouts Farmers Market. They are in California, Texas, Arizona and Colorado. Ours is about 20 miles from us, but it's SO worth the drive. It's a smaller grocery store, but they sell an amazing number of specialty products. There is a HUGE store nearby called Central Market that carries all sorts of specialty and exotic products, but I've seen Sprouts have way more variety and better choices many times over, plus they are way cheaper and the store isn't a stupid maze. Sorry Central Market, but I can't stand ya.
Anyway, one of the many excellent things about Sprouts is that they label gluten free products with a symbol right on the price tags on the shelf! So instead of standing in front of a whole cookie isle and trying to scan all the different box fronts for the words "Gluten Free!", I can just look at the tags for the symbol! Then if the product is also dairy free, that will be listed on the tags as well. And OMG, they have SO much stuff!
I don't like to buy a lot of convinience foods, but lunch time is very uninspirational for me, and I never feel like cooking a whole meal just for the boys and myself, especially since 50-60% of the time, Jack will hardly eat any of it. So yesterday at Sprouts I found a product line in the freezer section called Ian's. They have kid friendly foods, the types of stuff 'regular' kids get to eat all the time, but allergy FREE! I am talking about fish sticks, chicken strips, chicken nuggets, mac and (no) cheese sauce, french toast sticks, pizzas, turkey corn dog bites, even a whole meal of chicken nuggets, alphatots (fries shaped like letters), corn, and a mini chocolate cake! All wheat/egg/milk/mammal meat free, all @*&%$*@& awesome. And not only all of that, but their healthier items have a "SuperFit Kid" point value, and kids can redeem the points for prizes! Great incentive to get kids to eat healthy!
Our haul of Ian's stuff to try out!
Another thing is Potato Flyers. They are by the same people who make Pirate Booty, these are like potato chips, but it's puffed, baked chips rather than slices. So they are all a uniform size and light and fluffy, plus an entire family size bag only has 200 more calories than the lunch box size bags of regular potato chips. And the flavor of the original is deeeeelicious!!!
I'm drooling just looking at this bag now!!!
Anyway, so all in all it's been a great last week, and we have a few yummy things to try to see if Jackie approves :)
Tonight I am making an allergy friendly birthday cake for Benny! Yay!!!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Bob is my hero!
Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix is great!! We substituted Ener-G egg replacer and almond milk, and I had to add a decent amount more almond milk than the recipe called for, but the pancakes had a yummy flavor and were sufficiently fluffy. One strange thing is that, no matter how long you leave them on the griddle, they never really browned. But that's ok, they tasted great with Earth Balance butter melted all over them and a little bit of maple syrup. We prepared our turkey bacon in the oven this time, but I think I liked the way they came out on the skillet yesterday better.
Best of all, Jack ate 2 whole pancakes!
Best of all, Jack ate 2 whole pancakes!
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